Probabilistic Determination of Substation Communication Network Reliability Parameters

Substation communication network consists of networking devices whose reliability is becoming one of the most prioritized by utility asset owners owing to the critical functions (that is power grid real time monitoring and control operations) perform by the substation communication network. This paper focused on the use of probabilistic approach to determine substation communication network reliability using statistical analysis, randomly derived statistical data, reliability theory and computing techniques. The paper also focused on the use of network nodes reduction technique to test the communication network redundancy. The findings of this paper are aimed at using networking device derived failure rate data to determine communication network reliability at the defined end of life of the network, and also to estimate the of Mean Time To Failure of the derived communication network. The result of this research has demonstrated that probabilistic approach can be use to successfully analysis and determine the reliability of a communication network within the defined network service (i.e. operational) life